Charging at motorway service stations

I have just watched a facinating video from Fully Charged show with Quintin Wison. Although this was from 7 months ago it backs up why I originally wrote this thread.



Back to the original topic of my thread what do others think of the state of Service area charging in the whole UK? Have I just been unfortunate in my experience of the South West motorway system?
Is it better or worse in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

As it happens I don't travel often on motorways. Probably only 4 or 5 long trips in a year. Your knowledge and experience would really help others who need to take long trips with their planning.

evcog (Colin)
 
evcog said:
I look forward to the government achieving the aimed for deadline in 6 months. I mean surely it takes no time for major infrastructure to be built? I mean its only like building a small town. How long could it take?
I will continue to campaign on ensuring that barriers to EV adoption are available to all along with, Quentin Willson, the Fully Charged Show team, the charger compainies who have been trying to get movement out of the government for 3 years. If you don't like that then move onto other threads.
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I'm with evcog here. Yes, the experience of driving an EV is great, and the feeling of being one of the early adopters - if not an actual pioneer - is fun. The different attitude to motoring, being prepared to take a relaxing break every so often rather than just splashing in the petrol and getting back on the road, is one I'm learning to enjoy.

We all knew the state of public charging wasn't what it should be when we bought our cars. Practically nobody at all buys a car intending to return home every single time within the range of the car, without ever needing to refuel away from home. But we bought the cars anyway, believing we could make it work. Whether or not we were able to charge at home.

Does this mean we can't complain? Does this mean we should be silent little forelock-tuggers when we're inconvenienced by the lack of infrastructure? Does this mean the government can say, "well you knew what you were taking on, if you don't like it maybe you should have stuck with an ICE car"? Despite having made clear promises to do something about it?

The state of motorway charging facilities, in 2023, is an absolute disgrace. Too few chargers, broken chargers, chargers tucked away in a deserted corner of a car park with no human being within call, chargers open to the elements and with no lighting. New installations still being put in with no shelter and no light. And I'm not accepting "we had (still have) a pandemic" as an excuse, given what else has been achieved in the same time.

And I don't think that "well you should have known that when you bought your car, quit complaining" is a reasonable response.
 
Some interesting information ? here. In this episode, Robert talks about some current news stories floating around the internet. He discusses the UK’s charging infrastructure on target for 2030........and lots of others plus some nice rants.

 
Gomev I watched that video a few days ago and was pleased to hear some good news in it about the recent growth of EV chargers in our towns etc. I have definately experienced this in my home town in Somerset. From no rapid chargers at the start of April to 4 now, and multiple 7kW chargers. That's amazing progress. Of course there are some bananas amongst them due to daft parking restrictions and very high prices, but progress is progress.

I have actually found a slow charger where I can slow fill up and balance the battery monthly that only costs 28p Kw/Hr. Thats cheaper than my night rate at home. Shame I can't have a home charger but I think about 25% of households don't have that so a significant number.
 
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As promissed I have published the reply I received from my MP Rt Hon James Heappey, who is currently Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces). The pdf is in this post.

Very interesting reply from my MP reference Rapid Charger fund

Whilst most of the reply is very positive and shows several initiatives that I hadn't noticed before. However, the 3rd paragraph is rather worrying as he states :-

The Government has an important role to play in supporting the transition. That is why the
plug-in car grant, which has so far supported the purchase of nearly half a
million vehicles. Now, ministers are focusing the grant on the cleanest and most
affordable zero emission models, providing grants of up to £1,500 for electric cars priced
under £32,000. (my underlining)
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I am right in saying that this particular grant was cancelled on 14th June 2022? So why does a minister of state not know what his government policy is?

What are your thoughts on the reply and also the issue of the plainly incorrect statement about the plug-in car grant?

evcog
 
My local councils Mole Valley DC and Surrey CC are doing well in terms of installing chargers - but not sure of the kWh costs. Free parking for up to 4 hrs when you charge though. Non elec car drivers rather unhappy at times. Questions about who is subsidising who. However HMG's failure to deliver adequately on the motorway provision is utterly disgraceful - though unsurprising of course - as absolutely everything else is screwed up too. Why should motorway charging be any different.
 
I agree all motorway services should have multiple charging stations,I live in Exeter and as it’s the gateway to the south peninsula MOTO sservices in Exeter , !.í is brilliant,it has 12. Kw:. 350 chargers for public use 12 Tesla chargers and another 20 350kw chargers ’s are being currently installed .I think this is thebest EV Charging station all the way up the west coast,from Landsend to John ogroats,which is ridiculous.EV car buyers are taking the government seriously by buying electric cars. . ' , its pity the government don’t take themselves seriously by installing chargers similar to Exeters all the way up the M5 and M6.All we get is 1or2 Chargers here and there half of which don’t work or are being used. ',.
I personally don’t use Exeter as I charge at home but I do travel up to Birmingham or Doncaster and the charging network is abysmal. Another rant over but does anyone else agree????
 
jollyman said:
I agree all motorway services should have multiple charging stations,I live in Exeter and as it’s the gateway to the south peninsula MOTO sservices in Exeter , !.í is brilliant,it has 12. Kw:. 350 chargers for public use 12 Tesla chargers and another 20 350kw chargers ’s are being currently installed .I think this is thebest EV Charging station all the way up the west coast,from Landsend to John ogroats,which is ridiculous.EV car buyers are taking the government seriously by buying electric cars. . ' , its pity the government don’t take themselves seriously by installing chargers similar to Exeters all the way up the M5 and M6.All we get is 1or2 Chargers here and there half of which don’t work or are being used. ',.
I personally don’t use Exeter as I charge at home but I do travel up to Birmingham or Doncaster and the charging network is abysmal. Another rant over but does anyone else agree????
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The government don't install chargers, just like they don't build petrol stations. It may be worth taking a look at the following article for an idea of why the number of chargers is still low at many moroway locations.

www.zap-map.com

GRIDSERVE installs interim charge points - Zapmap

Behind the scenes the GRIDSERVE chargers are being powered by a microgrid solution that uses second-life batteries, in conjunction with vegetable oil generators.
www.zap-map.com www.zap-map.com

Gridserve when they took over the Ecotricity motorway network have had to replace all the existing chargers over the entire network just to get 2 actually working at each site, and are now in the process of increasing the numbers at each location.
 
The government don't install chargers, just like they don't build petrol stations. It may be worth taking a look at the following article for an idea of why the number of chargers is still low at many moroway locations.
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Although you are right Gomev, only government have the ability to get the National grid to upgrade the power to these sometimes remote locations. That is why £950m was agreed at the 2021 budget to allow this to happen. No charger network has the clout or money to upgrade the infrastructure themselves. It would just be totally unecomomic for the returns they would get for the cost of installation. It is just a shame that the Government have wasted 2 years to get to the point of actually offering any funds up until this month.

It is also interesting to see in the spreadsheets of coverage that only Tesla has been consistant at being able to install enough rapid chargers at some of our service areas. I suspect they were quick enough to soak up the spare electric capacity at these locations and now there is not enough remaining for any other expansion.

Will we get to the Governments 'AIM' to have at least 6 rapid chargers, of at least 150kw, by 31 January 2023? I highly doubt it. However, we should encourage our representatives to complete their funded aims after all its our money.

Before someone says 'but they have a lot more important priorities at the moment', this unspent money is not even in this years accounts it will not cost the tax payer a single penny because we have already paid it.
 
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evcog said:
It is also interesting to see in the spreadsheets of coverage that only Tesla has been consistant at being able to install enough rapid chargers at some of our service areas. I suspect they were quick enough to soak up the spare electric capacity at these locations and now there is not enough remaining for any other expansion.
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Tesla superchargers include a bunch of batteries (and increasingly solar) to reduce and balance the grid needs, so they fit better with restricted feeds. And yes, they got there before the competition in many cases.

They've also been flexible about finding unconventional sites where power is available - eg the Wokingham supercharger is literally underneath the high voltage power lines overhead.
 
tsedge said:
T..

They've also been flexible about finding unconventional sites where power is available - eg the Wokingham supercharger is literally underneath the high voltage power lines overhead.
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Can you see a big wire hanging down from the power lines to the chargers ? Does the Grid know about this ? 😂
 
Some good news as recent updated information has been published by

Energy Storage Systems National Highways, England's trunk road authority, announced they would be investing £8 million in energy storage systems; giant battery packs inside air conditioned shipping containers that will be placed at motorway service areas where the electricity connection isn't currently good enough to supply the energy as it's demanded. These units will be installed at: Beaconsfield (M40) Corley northbound (M6) Clacket Lane (M25) Maidstone (M20) Taunton Dean northbound (M5) Tebay northbound (M6) This will allow at least six 150kW rapid chargers to be installed at each of these sites before the end of 2023.

Energy Storage Systems​

National Highways, England's trunk road authority, announced they would be investing £8 million in energy storage systems; giant battery packs inside air conditioned shipping containers that will be placed at motorway service areas where the electricity connection isn't currently good enough to supply the energy as it's demanded.

These units will be installed at:

This will allow at least six 150kW rapid chargers to be installed at each of these sites before the end of 2023.
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I visited Tebay northbound earlier and was dissapointed that they only had 1 CSS charge point 50kw, which of course was occupied. So I will keenly research these sites in the new year to hopefully confirm installations.
 
Tebay southbound only has Tesla-only chargers. My friend came through there in late April and said there was a big sign up saying that chargers for the plebs were under construction and would be open "in the summer". Don't know when that will be though!
 
I did a 1,270mile round trip in March and a1,025mile round trip over a long weekend just gone. Both Ayrshire to the South coast of England. Several improvements noted (connectors in brackets):
  • Applegreen at Abington (20) & Gretna (12) services
  • Grid Serve at Burton in Kendal (10) and
  • Instavolt at Banbury (40? I lost count) but Costa closed at 8PM

Got my max charge (82kW) twice on this trip, partly running low (min 17%) and selecting chargers rated over 125kW.

Satnav estimate was 8h30 (no stops) for the 450 mile outward leg. Made it in 10h05, started 100%, three charging stops arrived with 37%. So as good as an ICE.

Warm weather helped keep to 3.9 miles/kWh.

Perhaps I was lucky, perhaps we are getting the hang of this gizmo.?
IMG_6884 (2).jpg
 
That's really good news. (Except for the way they keep installing new chargers with no canopy for shelter and probably a five minute walk in the rain to the coffee shop!) I thought I counted 16 Applegreen connectors at Abington, did I miss some? (I didn't go in the last time I passed there because I had about 8 miles to spare on the GOM to get me home, and arrived home at 4%!)

I'm currently documenting a novice's stream-of-consciousness thoughts about how to handle a trip from just south of Edinburgh to Brighton next month (returning two days later), in the MG4 subforum. I have a provisional plan, but as you've done a very similar trip - indeed longer, as mine will be about 900 miles - maybe you could come by and share your experience.

I've gone and done it now (road trip)

Background. Way back in the post-war years, before she married, my mother was an opera singer, and she sang at the Glyndebourne Festival in (at least) 1949. She was a member of Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group and in the original cast of Albert Herring. I've been to various music...
www.mgevs.com www.mgevs.com

I saw the Gridserve complement at Burton-in-Kendal and I'll definitely be using that to get up to over 90% for my last leg home on the way back. I want to use Killington Lake on the outward journey but the last time I was there, there were only two or three chargers (with a Tesla charging at one). I like that Roadchef. But having said that, I should be able to make Kirkby Lonsdale easily enough if there's trouble, although that does involve a 12-mile detour.

I don't have Banbury on my list, but it sounds as if it's worth a look. I'm actually looking at Longbridge (Warwick) and Cherwell Valley for that stretch, but I'll bear Banbury in mind.

We're almost spoiled for choice!
 
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